7 ways to finance your sailing adventure
After the exciting beginnings, long term cruising can become a fight for financial survival. During the time spent cruising I observed specific behaviors and strategies that people adopt to make money while sailing.
I decided to classify the economical behaviors that fund the cruising lifestyle by drawing 7 prototypes. Any attempt to classify individuals in typologies always carry the risk of oversimplification and generalization.
In real life cruisers often adopt a cross-pollination approach, suitable case by case.
I originally found 5 categories that I think are classic ones, but then I felt the need to add 2 more, because times are changing, and, believe it or not, we are evolving.
Here are 7 types of cruisers divided into different economical behavior.
1. Harbor rats
A group of very dedicated and skilled cruisers, with budget limitations that enhances creative thinking. I saw some of them floating the hull above the waterline using truck tyre tubes and performing other crazy low cost, low-tech solutions.
Their boats are put together with a collection of mad max type dumpster dived items. They soon get skilled enough to perform sketchy boat work for clueless and/or broken sailors that pay in boat parts, favors like car rides, boat sitting or food and shelter.
Countries with expensive cruising fees are a no go, and they get to the point of deceiving officials by forging clearance papers themselves if that helps them save some bucks.
2. Comfy retired or semi retired folks
Easy spotted by their complex and heavy as hell stern arches and bimini structures that costed not only money but human lives during the fabrication.
They usually live off their savings and or investments with different degrees of luxury depending on the case, but generally speaking on the lower end which translates in a very good ability to keep track of expenses.
They try to save money nitpicking on contractors’ work and equipment, on food vendors and taxis and they may never leave the comfort of the harbor without a spare alternator but they don’t buy an available one because it’s more expensive than “back home”.
They say they will pick up one next time they fly back, which is entirely dependent on the house or financial market returns. Due to all the crap on deck and above, their boats sail poorly and with great effort until they settle for good in a part of the world which is cheap. Internet, Chinese restaurants and booze are the expenses they struggle to keep in check.
3. World charter businessmen/women
They buy a big boat thinking that it will pay itself doing off-the-beaten-track charters and in general having paying guests.
They settle in a country with loose regulations and tropical features but with good enough infrastructure for the guests to easily reach the boat and for them to enjoy vices with a lower price tag.
As there are not many places like this around anymore they compete with other boats over customers. This drives the price down and so the returns.
Costs keep raising as they have to keep the boat in good shape because otherwise guests are going to leave bad reviews on the internet.
Being in places where locals paddle dugout canoes and can only sell you fish and coconuts, where shipping is either unknown or crazy slow and expensive, and if you need a mechanic you need yo fly one in, does not help with boat upkeep.
Logistic hassles, booking fever and, sometimes terrible guests totally undermine the healthy lifestyle they were longing for, while their boats fall apart.
4. Technomads
These are the pioneers of the internet revolution, people with a real job they could do anywhere they can be connected, even on a boat. I’ve met editors, skype english teachers, cruising consultants (I know this should not be a “real job”) coders and other tech people, that enjoy few hours of work per day on a computer inside a boat in exchange of money.
Their focus is to keep the infrastructure going, making sure the machines stay out of salt water or anchoring closer to the cell tower even if there the swell is good enough for surfing. Marinas and cruising destinations are chosen and rated by internet speed or vicinity with internet cafes and libraries.
They sail to nicer areas only during weekends or holidays. Usually before any long passage there is a deadline panic that obstuct the passage planning routine. Finally, after the second day on passage they dream about quitting their job and find a different source of income.
5. Part-time cruisers
This group technically does not make money while sailing, however they organize their work around sailing. Experts in packing/ unpacking the boat for long term storage, they are a tough cookie for any yard manager. Haul out fees and collaterals are the main expense on their books, together with airfare and unnecessary compulsive shopping items, boat parts and souvenirs that fill the extra check-in bags each way.
They are usually able to ratch up quite a sum during their work period that they then spend almost instantly in the first weeks of cruising. By the end of the sailing period they look a lot like the Harbor Rat type, sometimes having to borrow money to get back to work.
6. Girls and dudes with patreon accounts
These new group started to emerge when people decided that Youtube was the perfect place to quench their sailing thirst. This stalking platform is the new stage for the soap operas of the sea, with the most succesful ones that even provide income for the creators.
The basic idea here is that a group of “angels” (or patrons) pay upfront for a product that involve a lot of work and investment and that once released, anybody else can watch for free on youtube. The ones I met sailing were not among the famous ones, and because the videos were not paying off they were also resorting to other forms of hustle to keep the finance in check.
The internet makes it a bigger phenomenon than it is in real life and yet, because homo sapiens is mainly here to mimic other homo sapiens, the number of people who attempt this way is increasing. They say commercial fishermen destroy the oceans, but I think people buying and eating fish are the real culprits. Same with the vlogging: blaming the hardworking bluecollars of the camera for our inevitable loss of intelligence and taste is a form of hypocrisy.
The odds for financial solvency using this approach seem pretty slim, as at the moment it pays off only to the few who can gather enough views and convince donors to pay for their videos. This challenge sometimes requires a cost in hours of work and focus on their public image that hinders a little bit the idea of traveling for fun, and to take themselves not too seriously.
7. Grifters and visionaries
It takes guts to be in this group. We are looking at a very small number of individuals that are willing to sail no matter what. To conquer donors and enablers they need a higher purpose or challenge. Also looking like clueless trainwrecks doomed to fail seems to help in gathering donations.
Stubborn faces and willingness to go down to the lowest possible points of human dignity seem to work as well. This is only for the very motivated ones, like Rimas and very few others. The good thing is that you don’t have to put any money in it.
Do you recognize other types of economical behavior in the cruising community? Do you have a special way to make money while sailing?
If so, please let me know in the comments.